12 thoughts on “Nolite te bastardes carborundorum”

Benjamen: I’m not a Trump voter or fan. Nor am I a Clinton voter or fan. I’m not liberal or conservative; not Dem or Rep; not a Jew, Christian, Muslim or atheist. I listened to your podcast “Don’t Let the Bastards Grind You Down.” I love your podcasts. However, you and your Leftist friends are totally wrong about Trump and will continue to be wrong. Trump is NOT a fascist. Trump is a NARCISSIST!

Google the definition of fascist. None of the definitions of fascism apply to Trump. While thoughtful and intelligent, you and your Leftist friends don’t know what TRUE fascism is, a la 1930’s Germany, Spain, Italy. By calling Trump a “fascist” out of frustration, you dilute the true definition and gloss over the horrors of people like Hitler, Franco and Mussolini.

Trump IS: a tax-cheat, a deadbeat, a liar, a con-man, a scam-artist, a snake-oil salesman, a philanderer, a sexual assaulter, a shitty casino owner, a terrible businessman, a rapacious asshole, a loud-mouth, a computer illiterate, but he’s not a fascist. Trump is first and foremost a narcissist on the scale of Napolean, Saddam, Kanye ;-), believing that the world is his to conquer (metaphorically in Trump’s case) and to obtain its riches of gold, power, prestige, beautiful women, material items, monuments to himself (Trump hotels for now), and most of all… ATTENTION.

Trump is NOT an erratic madman. Trump is a calculating narcissist who uses the tactics of his late lawyer, Roy Cohn, to use a “take-no-prisoners” approach and to win at any and all cost for the sake of his own aggrandizement. The techniques for this outcome–lying, flattery, humiliation, slander, compliments, insults, broken promises, empty threats, deception, false-praise, castigation, half-truths, charm, recrimination, social-alienation, crocodile-tears, jokes, fear-mongering, entertaining, shouting, whispering, schmoozing, bullying, tactical facial expressions, purposeful body language–can vary depending upon the audience. Trump is a master salesman who “consciously” articulates (manipulates) the necessary words to both confuse his enemies, buttress his allies, and inspire his potential converts.

Trump is the ultimate Teflon president. Trump is scandal-proof. You and your Leftist friends’ notion that “eventually” something will bring Trump down will never materialize. Screaming that Trump is a fascist from the Bubbles of Decadence (i.e., NYC, DC, Hollywood) will only make Trump more popular in the Heartland, and will facilitate Trump winning again in 2020.

The ONE and ONLY thing that will destroy Trump is to simply ignore him. That’s his private hell for which he fears most. Trump survives on both negative and positive press because he’s a narcissist. It’s his oxygen! Lack-of-attention is his kryptonite. If you and your Leftist friends just simply stop inveighing against Trump and say nothing, he will wither away like a dying orange rose.

Another idea for your surveillance series: how getting tested for hiv or other stis, is now an entry point into the surveillance state. Thinking of this while reading Sarah Schulman’s new book: conflict is not abuse. She goes into the rabbit hole of how since infecting a person is now considered a crime, the state can use your intimate sexual encounters against you.